Would events of the past weeks and months have made Americans stop
and think! Will there be enough men to fill all the extra jobs
created by our national war program? The answer is no, and
thousands of women have been taken into industry. Women are not
only taking more and more jobs in the types of work they held in peace
times but are entering what have been in the past forbidden fields for
women. We are seeing changes of this sort right here in our plant
every day.

Machine Cleaning-Louise Maynard

Out in 2-B Textile Area, I inquired about how many girls they had
doing boys' work and was very surprised to learn that they now have only
20 boys in the whole area. Compare this small number of boys with
190 girls and you will see how completely the girls have taken over in
2-B. I was told, too, that the girls are proving very satisfactory
on all the jobs they are doing. Right now all the jobs in the area
are being done by girls except "picking up" cones. Girls
are tracking, cleaning machines, sweeping floors, and changing oil on
winding machines. True, they get a little dirty sometimes on these
types of jobs but they take all that cheerfully and are not in the least
disturbed by it. Instead of the familiar uniform the girls wear
slacks, which, if we do say so, look very nice indeed.

The girls on the wringers out in Plant 1 and 2-B Spinning Rooms are
proving still further that this is no longer a man's world. There
are ten girls in 2-B now and they work three shifts just as the men
do. Plant 1 has eight girls on wringers, working two shifts, and
from what they have to say about their job, it seems that they feel as
though they have been missing something all these years by not having
worked there all the time. As I stood watching them sitting there
in their new red chairs I must admit that it didn't look too difficult.

Plant 1 Textile and 2-A Reeling Room also have girls who are
replacing boys. The work in Plant 1 Textile is of course very
similar to that in 2-B Textile, but in 2-A Reeling Room we watched with
interest girls pushing "trojan horses" of rayon skeins into
the Inspection Room nearby.

Supply Girls - Classic McCormick, Nettie
Herrington

Girls from the office, too, are found in many strange places on the
plant-we now have three girls at the Power Office and two at
Maintenance. Girls with a big bunch of checks going back through
the plant to "pay off" are now a familiar sight. This,
too, has long been considered a man's job.

Most unusual of all the jobs that women now hold on the plant is that
of our new woman photographer for Rayon Yarns. So far as we know,
this is the first time we have had a professional woman photographer on
the plant and the Yarns is justly proud to have her on our staff.

From the above account you will see that we are just now beginning to
learn how best to develop and use the occupational skill of women in
industry. Of course, it's too early yet to say just what the
outcome of this vast change will be, but personally, we think the women
realize that they are soldiers of production and are willing to give
"Their Best - No Less - for Victory."